South African Communist Party

The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa that was founded by William H. Andrews in 1921. The party took part in the 1922 Rand Rebellion, a rebellion by miners that had the goal of allowing for Bantus to hold supervisory positions in mining companies. In 1948, the implementation of apartheid led to the SACP growing in numbers as enemies of racism and oppression joined the fight against the government, and the SACP formed a close relationship with the African National Congress and other leftist parties. Leaders such as Joe Slovo, Ruth First, and Chris Hani were just as famous as ANC leaders Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo, and the SACP helped the ANC and its Umkhonto we Sizwe armed wing in guerrilla warfare against the South African government. The group was banned in 1950 under anti-communist laws, and it remained so for 40 years. First, Hani, and several other leaders were assassinated or arrested, but in 1990 the ban on the party was lifted. Since 1994, the SACP has had 200,000 members, but its involvement in the alliance with COSATU and the ANC led to the SACP choosing to refrain from contesting elections in order to allow the ANC to remain in power.